Loleta protest: Residents rise early to support meat market

About a dozen people shuffled around in the frigid pre-dawn air outside Loleta Bakery and Loleta Meat Market on Saturday morning. They taped paper signs to storefronts and set up a small folding table which held donuts and coffee.

Mostly Loleta locals, they came to protest the Loleta Bakery and its owner Peter van der Zee, who on Thursday, walked several steps to the adjacent 80-year old Loleta Meat Market and handed owner Pixie Setterlund a 60-day eviction notice.

Van der Zee has said he needs to expand his popular bakery, which also serves coffee and lunch items. He says his number one customer complaint has been that the bakery is too small.

But news of van der Zee's proposed expansion -- he and his wife Jeanne own several of the properties that make up quaint downtown Loleta, including the meat market -- has local residents in an uproar because it means evicting Setterlund. They took to Facebook Friday to express their frustration. An online petition called "Save Loleta Meat Market" has well over 300 signatures.

By noon Saturday, the protesters had swelled to a crowd of more than 40.

"We just wished they sat down and communicated (with Setterlund) like normal people do," said Becky Davy, who helped organize the protest. "One of my biggest problems is I've also been a big supporter of (van der Zee's bakery)."

The buzz outside the bakery early Saturday was not one of retaliation. Several protesters said they only wanted to send a clear message: The bakery owners had made the wrong decision.

"In this economy, we need every business we've got," said Kathryn Vanderpool, another protester and Loleta resident who owns Vanderpool Gourmet Tuna. She acknowledged the van der Zees had helped revitalize the downtown area, but she said that doesn't make kicking out Setterlund OK.

As it became lighter, several more concerned residents stopped by to join the protest. "When was the last time you saw me awake at 7 a.m.?" joked one man as he got out of his truck to join the group.

Bakery employees continued their work inside. One customer stepped through the makeshift picket line to buy a loaf of bread. Meanwhile next door, Setterlund had her front door open and the protesters walked in and out. Setterlund herself was already hard at work in her back room, preparing meat.

Davy said the meat market isn't just a popular establishment in Loleta. "I don't think many people realize how many people come to this meat market from everywhere. It's a big part of the community."

She said Setterlund is so ingrained in the tiny community of around 800 that it would be tough to see her go. In the past, Davy said, Setterlund has packed up and sealed her specialty meats and sent them across the country to Davy's son, who was stationed in the military on the Gulf of Mexico. When he heard that the meat market might be going out of business, he was disappointed, Davy said.

Vanderpool said Setterlund once watched over her kids one afternoon while she was away. She got them ice cream, all the while keeping her business humming.

"It seems like, just not thinking it out," said Emil Feierabemd of the eviction notice. Feierabemd now lives in nearby Ferndale, but grew up in Loleta. "Nobody wants to hurt the bakery. We want it here," he added.

Later in the morning, several Humboldt County Sheriff's officers stood in front of the bakery as a precautionary measure. "Today is a little out of the ordinary," said Sgt. Ernie Stewart. "People here are showing support for the Loleta Meat Company, which is well within their First Amendment rights to do so."

Elaine Jones, a former two-year employee of the bakery, also stood outside among the protesters. She said the van der Zees were always fair to her as employers. But they should've taken a different route to expand their business, she said, one with the interests of the community in mind.

Loleta resident Terry Moffitt was one of the first protesters to show up Saturday morning.

"It's just a complete lack of understanding, that's what it is," he said. "It's crazy. We've got five businesses here, and now we want to cut one out?"